As I stepped into the sunlight of the 15th Floor, I felt a wave of pure disgust. There stood Sakura, flanked by Mizuki and Kaiju. The "friends" who had watched me get cast away. They were smiling, waving me over like nothing had ever happened.
"Akira! You goofball, you're always reading books," Sakura laughed, her voice ringing with a sweetness that made my skin crawl. "Stop being a reader for five minutes and come to the arcade with us!"
They grabbed my bags, pulling me along. They acted like we were a team, but then came the familiar cruelty. "Hey, Akira, you've got some cash, right?" Kaiju asked, already reaching for my pockets. They took my money and played games while I was forced to stand on the sidelines, watching them laugh.
The Fracture
Suddenly, a violent image flashed in my mind—a knife through their heads. I blinked, and the vision was gone. My head throbbed. A voice, cold and distant, echoed in the back of my mind: "Wake up, Akira."
The scene shifted. I was in a basketball class. The seniors weren't just playing; they were using the ball as a weapon, hurling it at my chest with bone-crushing force until I coughed up blood. I looked to the sidelines for help, but Sakura and the others were just standing there, whispering and laughing at my weakness.
"Wake up, Akira. They are not your friends."
I was on the ground now, outside, being kicked by a group of students. I looked up through the dust and saw Sakura, Mizuki, and Kaiju in the corner. They weren't helping. They were enjoying the show.
"Who are you?" I screamed in my mind at the voice.
"I am you," the voice replied. "The real you. The one who survived the cold, the shadows, and the teeth. Open your eyes!"
The Dream Worker's End
My eyes snapped open. The sunlight, the arcade, and the fake friends vanished instantly. I was back in the damp, pulsing halls of the 15th Floor.
Because of my Split Mind, the monster had made a fatal mistake. It had trapped one half of my consciousness in the dream, but my second mind—the warrior mind—was wide awake and watching the whole time.
Standing right in front of me, its mandibles inches from my face, was a Dream Worker.
[ENTITY: DREAM WORKER — LEVEL 45]
[SKILL: DREAM WALK — BRINGS OUT THE TARGET'S WORST NIGHTMARE]
The creature hissed, realized I was awake, but it was too late. I was filled with a cold, jagged fury. It had dared to use my memories against me. It had made me relive the humiliation of Oakhaven.
"You want to see a nightmare?" I growled, my Spectral Scythe erupting in Abyssal Inferno.
I didn't just kill it. I shredded it. I moved like a blur of shadow and fire, slicing through its spindly limbs and crushing its head into the fleshy floor. I hacked at it until there was nothing left but purple ichor and silence.
Master of the Mind
I slumped against a pulsing wall, my breath coming in ragged gasps.
[LEVEL UP: 46]
[SKILL ACQUIRED: NIGHTMARE MIST]
[DESCRIPTION: CREATE A DARK MIST THAT TRAPS ENEMIES IN THEIR WORST FEARS FOR 10 MINUTES. (EFFECTIVE AGAINST LOWER-LEVEL FOES).]
"Stupid floor," I spat, wiped the blood from my mouth. I used LEARN on the remains of the Dream Worker, absorbing the essence of its psychological manipulation. I could now project a mist from my palms that would trap my enemies in the same hell I just escaped.
I sat there for a long time, checking my skills. My Mage Grimoire was maxed at Level 10, and I had a new, terrifying weapon in my arsenal. I wasn't just a physical threat anymore; I was a mental one.
Akira sat heavily on the pulsing, organic floor of the Fifteenth Level. The purple ichor of the Dream Worker was still evaporating off his scythe, filling the air with a faint, bitter mist. He ignored the twitching remains of the psychological predator. His mind was unusually clear, the Split Mind skill having finally integrated the trauma of the "Sakura" illusion into cold, hard data.
He leaned his back against a wall that felt like living muscle and exhaled a long, shaky breath. The hyper-aural sensitivity in his ears picked up the distant, rhythmic thumping of the floor below—the 16th—and he knew the difficulty was about to spike again.
"Assistant," he muttered, his voice echoing in the hollow hall. "Before I step into whatever hell is waiting on the next floor... I need to see how far I've actually come. No more guessing. Open the archive. Let me check all my stats and Grimoire before I head to the 16th floor."
A massive, multi-layered holographic screen erupted in front of him, glowing with a fierce, S-Rank radiance.
THE LIBRARIAN'S MASTER LEDGER
Character Name: Akira
Current Level: 46
Rank: SSSSSSSSSSSSSSS (Anomaly Status)
Special Condition: Dual-Mind Awareness (Immune to single-layer illusions)
I. EVOLVED GRIMOIRES (The Stacked Tomes)
Your ability to "stack" has reached a new peak. You are no longer just reading books; you are rewriting your own existence.
THE MAGE GRIMOIRE (Level 10 — MAXED):
Core Spells: Abyssal Inferno, Teleport, Dark Magic.
New Additions:Healing Magic (Tissue repair) and Plant Multiplier.
THE CREATION TOME: The foundation of your crafting and biological manipulation.
THE SOUL-REAPER: Unlocked at Level 40; the source of your ability to harvest "Gore Skills."
THE GOBLIN GENERATION (Level 10 — MAXED):
Skills: Goblin Eyesight, Adaptability, Goblin Rage.
THE SLIME GENERATION:
Skills: Slime Inventory (Infinite storage), Slime Dash, Point Shot.
THE RABBIT JUMP GENERATION (Level 10 — MAXED):
Skills: Instant Teleport (3ft), Quick Step, Double Jump.
THE CHAMELEON GENERATION:
Skills: Invisibility, Search Wave, Double Eyes (360-degree vision).
THE OGRE GENERATION:
Acquisition: Tamed a Level 20 Ogre.
Skills: Monstrous Strength and Physical Resistance.
THE SHADOW WEAVER GENERATION:
Skills: Shadow Movement (Teleporting through shadows), Paralyzing Gaze.
II. THE GORE SKILLS (High-Tier Acquisitions)
These are the primal skills stripped from the Bosses of the lower floors.
From the Arachnid (Spider):
Appraisal: Analyze enemy stats/skills.
Split Mind: Process multiple spells or thoughts at once.
Web Generation & Spider Control: Tactical binding and telekinetic silk manipulation.
Corrosive Poison: Toxic secretions for paralysis and melting armor.
From the Ice Bears (Floor 12):
Ice Magic / Manipulation: Complete control over frost.
Ice Mirage & Ice Barrier: Illusory clones and impenetrable defense.
Iceland & Ice Spear: Trapping terrain and high-velocity projectiles.
From the Echo-Bats (Floor 13):
Sound Wave Manipulation: Absorbing and amplifying vibrations at 2x power.
From the Dream Worker (Floor 15):
Nightmare Mist: A 10-minute psychological trap of pure terror.